Joined: December 18th, 2008, 9:18 amPosts: 790Location: Where I lay my head is home

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

It's not a bad defense, I'd add some depth at LB, maybe get someone to compete with Palmer for the starting Sam LB spot. If possible, they should also look into signing Corey Williams and/or KVB for vet minimum.

Barring injuries (except the obligatory Delmas injures) this should be an average, middle of he road defense. I do hope Suh and one of the sophomore CBs step up this season.

April 28th, 2013, 4:42 am

kdsberman

Team MVP

Joined: February 20th, 2007, 10:51 pmPosts: 3419Location: Saginaw, MI

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

Dont like the SLB spot, but I guess u cant have everything. Dont like the WLB spot either.

I like it as of now, but if (WHEN) Delmas gets hurt for some reason, I think the FS spot is gonna kill us.

The secondary is upgraded both by personnel and with health. Depth at safety is much better than in the past with Carey having shown some ability last season and Spievey as a 4th safety rather than a 2nd safety. Bentley's health is an upgrade over Jacob Lacey. We ll see if Slay can beat out Bartell at some point but Green should be better than last year and Greenwood is now healthy. Quinn is the big add that improves this group, but still its not so perfect that I dont expect to take some lumps.

DL: On paper, this line is worse than a year ago. Suh had a very strong finish to the season, lets hope that continues. Fairley will have the challenge of showing up well conditioned and staying healthy. Mosley isnt a great option as a rotational player. If Corey Williams still wants a paycheck it might be worth inviting him to camp. Jason Jones is a good football player and a worthwhile add but he would be better being the 3rd DT rather than the 1st DE. Ansah, we ll see how it turns out - KVB really had nothing left last season but whether he ll be able to replace Avril s production this quickly is unknown. Willie Young now has no expectations, neither does Ronnel Lewis. Devin Taylor IMO will only make the team bc the Lions drafted him. Overall, the line is probably worse than a year ago - when you see the DT rotation isnt as good and they lost the two youngest and most productive outside rushers (LoJack and Avril) and replaced them with projects.

LB: We are definitely weaker at LB.

In summary - I didnt think the defense was as bad the opponent PPG stat would suggest as we had 10 return type plays for TDs. Stafford/Pettigrew/Leshoure/Bell didnt take great care of the ball and our punting was terrible at both the beginning and end of the season, though Nick Harris did string out a few good games. The defense in 2012 didnt generate as much of a passrush as needed and on the backend gave up too many big plays. I dont think we ve solved the passrush problem for 2013 as it may take a while to get Ansah going and to transition Jones to playing mostly DE but the secondary should be much better. The LBs are slightly worse bc a proven starter is being replaced with an unknown that doesnt have a lot of upside. A key factor for this defense will also be the Punter Sam Martin's effectiveness. If he can pin teams deep, flip the field and kick touchbacks consistently it may make a big difference. Stafford takes care of the ball and LeShoure is able to move the chains late in games then maybe the defense can hide its flaws.

Big question marks all over the place. One new starting LB, two new starting DE's, loss of depth due to FA losses/salary cap cuts, questionable skills at CB opposite Houston, one new starting safety and the continuing concerns over durability issues with Delmas.

I know Schwartz and Mayhew (well, Schwartz at least) must be feeling the heat, so they really went for it in the draft defensively. If the DL coaches are everything their supposed to be...

_________________If God isn't a Lions fan, then why is the sky Honolulu Blue?

I think Mosley will give about the same production as Williams, he's the same type of player and 3 years younger. He gave the Jags which has much worse talent on the dline the same kind of production the Lions have got from Williams. They may miss Williams leadership, but he was also a big offsides guy at times which could make it a wash. Jones will be able to handle the 4th DT duties while playing DE and they can just keep Ogemdi Nwagbuo incase of injury or add another young guy. My only worry is if anything happens to Jones this season they will have a huge hole on one end. They really need to add another vet as a backup maybe even a DT/DE tweener and drop Nwagbuo, Young, or Lewis.

They need to get a better OLB through trade or from cuts. They are small, unproven, or both at every spot. I think Tulloch will be better if the secondary plays better and Levy will be good enough, but they need a real SLB. Whitehead and Palmer are to small to cover TEs or take on runners, they would be ok back-ups but they can't play that spot full time.

April 28th, 2013, 10:54 am

JL

Div 1 - Starter

Joined: December 13th, 2005, 2:09 pmPosts: 531

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

Don't they need to be smaller (and faster) to cover the new breed of tight end, which is basically a wide receiver that lines up tight?

_________________If God isn't a Lions fan, then why is the sky Honolulu Blue?

Don't they need to be smaller (and faster) to cover the new breed of tight end, which is basically a wide receiver that lines up tight?

If they are smaller in weight they need to at least be long. Both guys are only 6-1 and Tulloch is only 5'11''. They can run with a TE but there is little chance they could stop Bennet, Rudolph, or Finley from jumping up to get a pass. They really aren't thumpers either, so I'm really not sure what either guy adds as a starter.

April 28th, 2013, 11:20 am

liontrax

3rd Round Selection

Joined: March 21st, 2005, 2:11 pmPosts: 1112Location: Wolverine, Mi.

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

Our D is younger, longer, faster, and oh, less experienced. But what the heck, you must evolve. Sure there will be growing pains, but I look forward to watching our young and hopefully hungry players grow and excel. What did we have to lose from the previous D that couldn't seem to stop anybody when it counted? Last year our DE play was non-existent. I embrace the new talent at DE, confident that it could do no worse than last year. We'll see.

April 28th, 2013, 11:37 am

Killwill25

Rookie Player of the Year

Joined: March 5th, 2009, 8:42 pmPosts: 2312Location: Brooklyn, NY

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

i think we shouldve grabbed a safety at some point. we need a capable back up for delmas.

_________________Matthew Stafford is the only player in NFL history who is allowed to smoke cigarettes in the team huddle. He just chooses not to

I think Quinn will improve the play from all the safeties just like they all played better when Delmas was actually healthy. Just having one guy out there that everyone can feel comfortable with will allow the others to focus on their assignments better. Knock on wood, but Quinn has great durability and that stability he adds will make an incredible difference.

SOLB is really the only true hole they have on defense. All the other spots have good to competent looking prospects, but that linebacker spot has 2 undersized guys that look to be out of position in the spot. It's going to be really disappointing to see them go into the season with those two handling the spot when the scheme requires so much in the run defense from them.

April 28th, 2013, 2:51 pm

JL

Div 1 - Starter

Joined: December 13th, 2005, 2:09 pmPosts: 531

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

Killwill25 wrote:

i think we shouldve grabbed a safety at some point. we need a capable back up for delmas.

I thought the Lions signed one as a UDFA.

_________________If God isn't a Lions fan, then why is the sky Honolulu Blue?

April 28th, 2013, 7:11 pm

wjb21ndtown

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

Killwill25 wrote:

i think we shouldve grabbed a safety at some point. we need a capable back up for delmas.

Should have drafted Rambo instead of the damn punter that would have gone undrafted.

April 28th, 2013, 9:40 pm

Shotty

Millen Draft Pick - Epic Bust

Joined: July 3rd, 2012, 2:06 amPosts: 714

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

wjb21ndtown wrote:

Killwill25 wrote:

i think we shouldve grabbed a safety at some point. we need a capable back up for delmas.

Should have drafted Rambo instead of the damn punter that would have gone undrafted.

I agree somewhat, but what I think is Mayhew got a bit nervous since Minny took a punter soon before and he thought many teams would begin taking punters. Can't blame him for not knowing that wouldn't come true.

_________________

April 28th, 2013, 10:38 pm

Killwill25

Rookie Player of the Year

Joined: March 5th, 2009, 8:42 pmPosts: 2312Location: Brooklyn, NY

Re: What are your opinions on the defense as it stands now?

wjb21ndtown wrote:

Killwill25 wrote:

i think we shouldve grabbed a safety at some point. we need a capable back up for delmas.

Should have drafted Rambo instead of the damn punter that would have gone undrafted.

ABSOLUTELY

_________________Matthew Stafford is the only player in NFL history who is allowed to smoke cigarettes in the team huddle. He just chooses not to